Three years after his maiden Dakar success, Toby Price (Red Bull KTM Factory Team/ Michelin) finished on top again to earn Michelin’s 36th victory on the cross-country classic, as well as KTM’s 18th on the trot in association with the French tyre firm. The Australian finished clear of his team-mate and last year’s victor Matthias Walkner, while Sam Sunderland (Red Bull KTM Factory Team/Michelin) made it an all-KTM/Michelin top three.

After winning last season’s visit to Marrakech, Mahindra Racing finished on top again this time around thanks to Jérôme d’Ambrosio who was joined on the podium by Envision Virgin Racing’s Robin Frijns and Sam Bird. Antonio Felix da Costa tangled late in the race with his BMW I Andretti Motorsport team-mate while leading, and defending champion Jean-Eric Vergne (Techeetah) span at the race’s first turn.

FIA WRC - Sixth WRC title for Ogier and Toyota’s fourth, all with Michelin

The past and the future caught up with each other at last weekend’s Charade Heroes event (September 22-23) at Circuit de Charade* in the Auvergne Mountains near Clermont-Ferrand, France. Displays ranged from a Lancia Aurelia fitted with the first Michelin X radial tyres to a worthy successor of this industry-changing technology: the Michelin Pilot Sport which stars in the all-electric FIA Formula E Championship Both exemplify the important contribution motorsport can and does make to taking mobility forward.

After collecting four WRC Manufacturers’ titles together, Volkswagen and Michelin returned to their winning ways on Sunday with victory at the celebrated Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado, USA. Frenchman Romain Dumas posted a new record for the course in the German make’s exciting I.D R full-electric prototype.

FIA World Council decisions

A number of key decisions were taken at the FIA World Council meeting that was held in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on December 5. Many of them referred to some of the global championships in which Michelin is active, namely the WEC, WRC and Formula E.

Concerning the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), approval was given for the regulations covering the new Hypercars that will race from 2020 to 2025. These new hybrid cars will be powered by an internal combustion engine (maximum: 520kW/707hp) and an electric MGU (200kW/272hp). A single tyre manufacturer will provide a range of three slicks and two wet-weather tyres.

For the 2019/2020 FIA WEC, tyre changes while refuelling is in progress (as seen in 2018/2019) will no longer be authorised. The two operations will need to be carried out separately again (which was the case from 1994 until 2017), which means tyres will play a key role in race strategies once again.

The 2019/2020 FIA WEC calendar was approved, with eight rounds lasting from four to 24 hours. The championship will kick off on September 1 at Silverstone and conclude with the Le Mans 24 Hours in June 2020. Sao Paulo is back on the schedule, Bahrain will be an eight-hour fixture and Shanghai will be shortened to four hours.

The FIA World Rally Championship will include a WRC2 Pro series from 2019. Manufacturers will be able to enter two R5 cars but will need to take part in at least seven rounds. Meanwhile, the duration of midday service breaks has been extended from 30 to 40 minutes. The provisional 14-event calendar that was released a few weeks ago has been approved.

With regard to Formula E (which is poised to resume with Round 1 of Season 5 in Saudi Arabia on December 15), details of the new Attack Mode were released. This function will provide cars with a temporary power boost from 200 to 225kW, but the duration of this boost and the number of times it can be activated will only be confirmed just before each race to prevent teams from dialling its use into their respective strategies.

Round 1 of the 2018/2019 Formula E Championship in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, was won by Antonio Felix da Costa. The Portuguese BMW i Andretti Motorsport driver was joined on the podium by Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Techeetah/Michelin) and Jérôme d’Ambrosio (Mahindra Racing/Michelin).

After claiming the season’s opener in Qatar, Andrea Dovizioso concluded the 2018 MotoGPTM World Championship with victory in Valencia. The Italian was unfazed when the race was red flagged due to heavy rain and he went on to finish clear of Alex Rins (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR/Michelin) and Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing/Michelin).

The N°7 Toyota TS050 Hybrid/Michelin of Conway/Kobayashi/Lopez and the N°8 sister car of Buemi/Alonso/Nakajima collected another one-two finish for the Japanese make in the FIA WEC as torrential rain greeted teams to Shanghai, China. Michelin scored its 50th LM GTE Pro class victory in the championship with the N°95 Aston Martin (Sorensen/Thiim).